SCC’s Tyger River campus is a new partner with the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR). The ICAR partnership has the potential to become a huge factor in economic development for Spartanburg County by promoting the area for new companies, workforce development and job creation.
“This is a very good chance for us to partner with a very important neighbor,” said Robert T. Geolas, the executive director of ICAR, after a news conference at the Tyger River campus. “Spartanburg Community College has a great facility here, and we look forward to letting some of our potential partners and prospects know about it and working with SCC to help bring people in.”
As companies planning to move to Spartanburg County develop new products to market to the automotive sector, they will have the opportunity to prototype their production processes at SCC’s Tyger River campus facilities, ensuring efficient, high-quality production of their product before moving into their own facility. Temporary office space and administrative help with writing grants is also available. EchoStar was the first partner with SCC at the Tyger River Center to train its new employees.
According Dr. Dan Terhune, president of SCC, “In the big picture, this has the potential to create hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in the Upstate, and specifically in Spartanburg County,” he said. “Our part will be providing facilities and support and training, so that these entrepreneurs can take these ideas and put them into production.”
ICAR will promote the SCC Tyger River training facility, a 363,000 square foot facility
The company will also be able to train their workforce at our Tyger River Campus with experienced C&CE faculty before they begin commercial production mode. This proactive model presents a value-added experience for both new and expanding companies.
John Marburger, director of the president’s office of Science and Technology Policy thinks CU-ICAR is very impressive, “This partnership between industry and university needs to happen around the country.”
Other company research partners with CU-ICAR include Timken and Dale Earnhardt Inc. CU-ICAR is building on Clemson’s historical focus on engineering research and design with state of the art supercomputing and manufacturing technology. Funding for external research has tripled in the last ten years in collaboration with industry partners and other educational facilities with more than $225 million in commitments. According to Chris Przirembel, “CU-ICAR represents the ultimate public-private partnership, directly fueling a knowledge-based economy in South Carolina focused on automotive and motorsports research.” Many automotive and motorsports industries center along the I-85 Corridor, making SCC a central location for local industry research and development.
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